Post-Nuclear Energy Mix

$CO_2$ Reduction commitments

The German government has the stated intention of reducing CO2 emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2020, and by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

The target implies replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy sources. However, in 2007 the government authorised the building of 26 new coal plants. The new design allows for better management, lower loading and flexibility through combined cycle plant design, which will permit greater degrees of efficiency.

With the closure of 8 nuclear plants since the Fukushima aftermath decision, coal consumption has increased, highlighting the difficulties of maintaining the CO2 reduction commitments in the absence of the nuclear contribution.

At the end of 2022, there will be no more German nuclear reactors generating electricity. What is the plan for the new Energy Mix?

The goals of at least 40% of Germany's electricity from renewable energy by 2025, and 55-60% by 2035, seem much more feasible now than when the ambition was first formulated in the 2000 Renewable Energy Act. The intervening years have seen an unprecedented increase in German use of clean, renewable energies. The mix of wind and solar also allows flexibility in supply, and aids efficiency in the traditional dirty power stations by off-setting peaks in demand.

Waste To Energy

One of the most positive trends of the past decade is the compulsory incineration of municipal waste in Germany and Switzerland. Waste that cannot be effectively recycled or otherwise utilised is burnt to reclaim the energy it contains. This heat is used for district heating or for electricity generation. Not every country in Europe exploits this resource fully.

In this table the numbers stand for kg/capita:

Country

Waste generated

Material recycling

Landfill/ disposal

Incineration

Composting/ digestion

2001

2013

2001

2013

2001

2013

2001

2013

2001

2013

EU

521

481

88

131

278

146

82

123

50

71

Germany

632

617

238

290

161

1

140

218

92

108

Switzerland

660

702

218

236

28

0

325

344

89

122

France

526

530

72

110

214

150

174

180

65

89

Italy

516

491

62

122

349

181

44

99

30

72

Austria

576

578

140

142

192

23

65

202

231

192

UK

691

482

54

133

473

165

43

102

19

77

Data source: ec.europa.eu/eurostat

It can be seen from this table that the EU on the whole still landfills 30% of municipal waste, with no attempt to reclaim its value for recycling, reuse, composting, or energy content. Switzerland and Germany are the only countries to have almost eliminated this wasteful practice.

With the ever-increasing amounts of waste from a growing, high-consumption population, during the 1990s it became apparent that there was going to be a shortfall in available suitable land for landfilling. Germany and Switzerland therefore pioneered the transition to optimised waste management:

The quantities of all waste types are reduced as much as possible through better logistics, design and consumer awareness.

Waste is separated by consumers into the different categories at local collection sites.

As much of the waste as possible (glass, paper, PET, metals, organic residues, construction waste...) is fed back into the economy through appropriate material streams. Important here is the German June 2005 general ban on the landfilling of untreated waste: the decision is not only an economic one.

Substances which could present hazards for the environment and human health are also separately collected and the danger they present neutralised.

Where recycling or other use is not possible, waste is burnt to reclaim their energy content.

German Energy Policy

The BMUB (Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety) seeks to create the legislative and incentive framework for a consistent improvement in energy efficiency, as a key element of their sustainable climate and energy policy. It is therefore a central component of the 28 September 2010 Energy Plan, and the Energy Policy Change Decision of 6 June 2011.

The goal is to reduce primary energy consumption by 20% of the 2008 level by 2020, and 50% by 2050; and electricity consumption by 10% of the 2008 level by 2020, and 25% by 2050; i.e. an average increase in energy productivity of 2.1% per annum.

Furthermore, it was decided, in the long term to reduce the primary energy demand of existing buildings with the aim of having a nearly carbon-neutral building inventory by 2050. The heating demand of buildings should be reduced by 20% by as early as 2020.

Germany is also working on a European level for an ambitious and binding package of measures to increase energy efficiency, so that across Europe there will be energy savings of 20 percent by 2020.

Efficiency of Electricity Production

Efficiency is a technical term for the conversion of one energy from one form to another. Energy is never lost (Second Law of Thermodynamics), so if a fuel is burnt entirely, 100% has been converted to other energy forms. However, much of the new energy may be 'unusable', such as sound. If heat is the objective of the conversion, as it is in a boiler and turbine power generator, the efficiency would be a measure of how much electrical power results from the burning of an amount of fuel.

Burning oil in a power plant has the purpose of heating water, which is converted to steam, which drives a turbine, which generates electricity. Burning petrol in a car considers efficiency of conversion to be the kinetic energy of motion, and heat is 'unusable', so is lost to the purpose of the conversion.

Quote of the day...

"Now, I am afraid my usefulness has ended."
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"That's what my teacher told me. If you don't study harder, he said, you will go down in history."